Leading the Bulgarian School of Seattle during 2017-2018: Transition to Digital

My intentions starting a school were to satisfy the need of a structured language education in the local Bulgarian community. The opportunity was based on a personal experience, predictive analysis that included research into the educational benefits of learning a heritage language and the emergence of multilingual leaders in our global world today. During the first six years, our school team ran into a number of obstacles. One of these obstacles occurred when we encountered challenges in providing education to upper aged students and distant local families. After some unsatisfactory results of motivating high school students to take language classes, it became clear that many decisions were made based on the lack of interactive digital education. We reassessed our target market and used our own networks (parents, coordinators, and fellow teachers) to shape the Bulgarian language education. Through these relationships, a new opportunity was created. From this school year and through our recently adopted digital shell, the school has begun targeting families nationwide who have limited or yet not established access to Bulgarian language classes, and high-school students who can earn credits in their public academic transcript. By learning from experience, engaging a variety of stakeholders, and taking action to learn more about the market, the school reshaped the opportunity following the principles behind cognitive ambidexterity.